Land Rovers are famously known as un-environmentally friendly vehicles, but they are great at going off-road and protecting their occupants from collisions. Taking their safety street cred to the green realm, news just broke that Land Rover has made plans to release a hybrid version of their vehicle in two years, with a full-on plug-in hybrid version to follow a year later.

According to Land Rover’s brand director John Edwards, both models will be based on the next-generation Range Rover luxury SUV and will come both in gasoline and diesel variants. He added that, like all automobile manufacturers, their future hybrid strategy will be based on the public’s demand.

However, due to America’s love for the SUV, Land Rover is optimistic and even contemplating putting a V-6 gasoline engine in their first hybrid model. The technology is expected to include an electric motor, along with an internal combustion engine connected in parallel on a single driveshaft.

The plug-in hybrid model will have a more powerful electric motor, as well as batteries that the company hopes could sustain the vehicle over a 40 mile distance. While that doesn’t seem like much, the batteries will be self-charging via energy from the internal combustion engine. Alternatively, you can just plug it into a regular household power outlet.

In addition to creating hybrid models, Land Rover is also planning a series of CO2 emission offset programs and studies into building lighter, greener vehicles. One such plan aims to see the vehicles made from aluminium.

Only time will tell if Land Rover has a hit on their hands with these vehicles, but even if they don’t, it’s nice to see them making an effort.